Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DENVER — An Orem man and his Salt Lake City girlfriend both competed on the reality TV show, “American Ninja Warrior,” for the second time.
“American Ninja Warrior,” now airing its sixth season on NBC, was based off the global hit, “Sasuke,” a Tokyo-produced reality show. “Sasuke” showcased the athleticism of Japanese citizens by having them compete in a series of obstacle courses, and in 30 seasons only three people have finished the entire course.
Isaac Caldiero, the Orem resident, said the level of difficulty interested him. The professional rock climber said he watched the reality show and realized he could do many of the obstacles.
“That intrigued me after watching it over the years and seeing that, ‘Wow, this is (a) legitimately difficult obstacle course,” Caldiero said. “That got my interest that very, very few people can beat it. But also just looking at it (I thought), ‘You know, I could do that. I know how to do that. I have upper body strength. I’m a professional rock climber.”
Caldiero said he decided to submit a video application in 2013, but he barely missed the deadline. So he and his girlfriend, Laura Kisana, drove to Denver to stand in the walk-on tryout line.
“We drove about a week prior to the competition and got into the line and waited about five days,” he said. “At that point, Laura was like, ‘Well, I’m sitting here too. I might as well compete.’ “
The couple ended up being chosen and both competed on the fifth season, making it to the semi-finals and then finals in Las Vegas. Caldiero said Kisana didn’t quite qualify for finals, but the producers invited her to Las Vegas to compete as a wild card competitor.
In an effort to become a stronger competitor, Caldiero built a mini-training facility in his backyard. The 25- by 16-feet course included 10 obstacles intertwined in the small area, where he and Kisana trained together.
In May, the couple submitted video applications for the show for the following season and got accepted. They both competed in Denver where Kisana got eliminated in the semifinals. Caldiero qualified as one of the finalists for the Denver finals to be aired on Aug. 4.
After rock climbing for almost 17 years, Caldiero said his skill level as a climber has contributed to his “American Ninja Warrior” success.
“The stages get progressively harder, and they get more and more upper body-oriented,” he said. “For 98 percent of the other competitors who don’t have the same upper body strength that I’ve developed from rock climbing for almost 17 years, when they get into the upper body areas, it’s more difficult for them and it actually gets more and more easy for me. The obstacles are not very forgiving and it’s really easy to mess up on. There is little room for error.”
A competitor is awarded $500,000 and the title of “American Ninja Warrior” to complete all the obstacles in the final competition with the fastest time. The finale will air Sept. 15.
